MX23RW : Tuesday, March 19 06:43:10| >> :120:83008:83008:

Toto Wolff says driver rows will race on for now

Toto Wolff admits that Mercedes's philosophy of signing two 'number one' drivers will never be perfect.

Toto Wolff has admitted that Mercedes's philosophy of signing two 'number one' drivers will never be perfect.

His comments come after the latest public disagreement between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who are both staying at the team until the end of 2018 at least.

In Hungary, Hamilton disagreed with Rosberg not being penalised in qualifying to the point that he even visited race control for clarification about how much a driver needs to slow for yellow flags.

Bild newspaper now claims that Hamilton will raise the issue again in Friday's race briefing ahead of the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

The report says that Mercedes are not overly happy with Hamilton's stance, especially having raised the issue directly with Charlie Whiting.

"I don't think I influenced the stewards investigation," the reigning world champion is quoted as saying.

For his part, team boss Wolff says that he is happy with Mercedes's current driver lineup but admitted that it is "not perfect".

"A perfect pairing would be two number ones at the same level, both capable of winning the world championship and not generating any controversy," he told Sport Bild.

"But this is an illusion that does not exist. We have opted for this philosophy for the benefits it has to the team but with the disadvantage that we have to do a lot of people management.

"There is always one winner and one loser, one happy and one unhappy one each Sunday."

However, Wolff said that Hamilton vs. Rosberg does work for Mercedes.

"Their relationship is constantly changing, it's up and down, but they're in their fourth year and fighting for the title for the third time and so far it has gone relatively well," he added.

"We don't know for how long that will be the case, and there may be a point in which we say 'We did it for four or five or six years but can't do it anymore.

"Then it may be that we need to exchange the drivers or change the philosophy. So far we aren't there yet but it is a wild horse that we ride."

Hamilton leads the drivers' championship following his win in Hungary on Sunday.

ID:277624: cacheID:277624:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3557:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Pascal Wehrlein arrives in the paddock before final practice for the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 19, 2015
Read Next:
Wehrlein not surprised about Rosberg news
>
rhs 2.0

Subscribe to our newsletter


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!